Poetry | Issue 1 (April 2023)
One Goose Lands
Kate Deimling
Walking by the waterfront, we saw
the distant V approach,
narrow to a line.
We came closer, and they did, too,
spreading out their landing times
like air traffic control.
Right in front of us, one goose
beat its wings against the air like mad,
head pulled back like those photos
snapped on roller coaster rides,
feet speeding over the ground,
skidding across the dust,
and it felt like my own body
was thumping to earth
as I watched this bird, in steps,
tether itself to gravity once more,
stumble for a second, settle its feathers
into place, and sit quite still
surrounded by reedy shore
as if ready for its portrait.
Kate Deimling is a poet, writer, and translator from French. Her poems have appeared in Slant, Notre Dame Review, Tar River Poetry, I-70 Review, The Midwest Quarterly, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Plainsongs, Crosswinds Poetry Journal, and other magazines. She lives in Brooklyn, New York and is an associate poetry editor for Bracken.